Answer: Internal preparation is a reverence for the property of bestowal as the force, property, value, that is above everything. On the basis of such preparation, you can then continue and work out various individual states, actions, and goals in order to reach the common goal and realize this property of bestowal within our matter, the desire to enjoy.

I am asking everyone to send their suggestions on how to conduct the convention in Brazil. We will discuss them during the lessons, and in this way we will learn from our common action and prepare our common desire. In other words, the convention will be a realization of what we will prepare together.

Everybody must prepare themselves, wherever in the world they may be. It cannot be that a person returns from work, does all the household chores, and when there is a little free time left, suddenly remembers that there is a convention going on, turns on the broadcast, and begins to watch.

Nothing will come out of it. A person should prepare in advance, anticipate, and plan what he will be doing together with us and how he will advance due to these actions. The action itself is worth nothing; everything depends on the preparation.[74959] From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/2012, “Questions and Answers Regarding the Brazil Congress”

If we are in our desire to receive yearning only to receive a filling, we don’t feel that there is something else outside our desire. We only understand that there is a void in us that must be filled and that feels that it is empty. As long as our desire doesn’t receive all the filling, it will not calm down. It is like a crying baby that doesn’t calm down until he receives everything that he needs.

How can we teach such a desire to receive another pleasure, pleasure from bestowal? It doesn’t even understand what it is, and cannot feel and do such a thing. But gradually we begin to teach it according to a plan.

The whole study is based on the readiness to suffer, because the desire needs to give up its filling, to give up the desire for the filling, to give up the feeling of the self, the self pride, the envy, the respect, and the control, which means its independence.

At first a person thinks that he can correct himself, until he sees that it is impossible, and that it can only be realized by the upper force. He learns from failing all the time. Thus he is taught that he should lower his head and ask, ask for the one thing that he doesn’t want. Then he receives help and changes, becoming his opposite, by beginning to enjoy what was hateful before.

We have to go through this whole process in understanding, in recognition, in agreement, in our feelings and in the mind, in our consciousness. Everything you were proud of before and considered respectable, now seems the opposite, and you discover your lowliness and your helplessness. Our desire to receive, which doesn’t know anything but to fill itself, feels all this when it learns about a totally new method.

This process takes place according to the three symbols: “Pesach” (Passover), “Matzah,” and “Maror” (bitter herb). It is called “Pesach” from the Hebrew root to skip, as a person constantly jumps from one side to its opposite, and so he turns his small measures of receiving into bestowal. He does that by Matzah, “the bread of affliction,” since he has no other food and he agrees to settle for what he receives from bestowal.

A person constantly raises the importance of bestowal, while his desire to receive only gets the “bitter herb.” Thus he raises the right line, the Matzah, over the left line, the bitter herb, like a hero who overcomes the bitter taste and wants to turn it to the sweetness of bestowal. Then he reaches Pesach, the changing of his consciousness.

By the new attitude towards the desire to receive, that doesn’t change, he builds the human in him. “Adam” (Man) is what is built above the desire. This is the system that begins to work according to the new principle with the same natural attributes, but by using them in order to bestow.

The mechanism, that is created by that is made of all the person’s actions and exertions as he overcomes his desire to receive, is what is called “Adam.” All this is done by the three special components that symbolize the holiday of freedom from the ego, Pesach, that are called Pesach, Matzah, and bitter herb.[75097]From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/10/12, Writings of Rabash

The role of our general, international group is to give the world the method of correction. This group is in contact with the Light that Reforms—for itself and for the whole world. This group today is called “Israel.” What is special about it?

Let’s start from the fact that the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif or OM), meaning the Light that Reforms, is at the upper degree, and it is abstracted and concealed from us. But it can shine upon us to the extent that we awaken ourselves. Thus we can turn to the Light and it can respond to our request.

When does it answer our request? When the request matches the Light, that is, if we ask according to the way it is designated to respond. We are Galgalta ve Eynaim (GE), or Israel. And besides, we have to connect to AHP and to get a response from it. Together, GE and AHP make up ten Sefirot, meaning a spiritual Partzuf, or the general creature.

From this we can understand what is happening to us. We have to awaken the nations of the world (1) so that they will want change (2) To do that, we have to turn to the Light that Reforms (3) and to get its help (4) so that we will change ourselves and will serve AHP.

So what should we do in the meantime? Kabbalists say that in the meantime there is nothing we can do. Similarly, the wisdom of Kabbalah was concealed throughout history: People kept and passed it on in secret because the masses didn’t feel the need for it. But when the world went into a new era that requires the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah, then the “corporeal” people of Israel got their land back in order to carry out their mission and Kabbalists began to talk about this wisdom.

Everything exists for AHP, for the nations of the world, generality that essentially includes all of humanity. In this sense everyone is equal in the eyes of the Creator. And indeed, it says that in the end of correction all people in the world will know the Creator.

Still, before we perform the first action and turn to the nations, we have to be ready for that. Therefore, we are given the chance to make the first steps without any connection to them, without their knowledge, and so we develop during the first years, thus preparing ourselves for the job.

But at a certain point we cannot advance any further if we don’t become the means for the correction of the nations, that is, if we don’t bring them the method of correction. And while doing so, we don’t correct anyone—it is the upper Light that corrects everyone, including us.

So we should ask ourselves about our role more assertively. The answer is that we exist only in order to bring correction to the world. We can stay on the level of Hafetz Hesed, on the level of Bina, that has no desire for itself and is totally aimed at the needs of the lower one. For this purpose Bina is divided into GE that are aimed at the Creator and AHP that are aimed at creation, and the cutting line between these two parts is our free will.

This is the role of Bina. All our dissemination, all our attitude towards people should be determined by this schema.[74893]From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/9/2012, “The Role of Israel and the World”

Baal HaSulam, “One Commandment”: The essence of prophetic success is to extend the upper Light to the dwellers below. The one who brings it lowest is the most successful.

This is very important because the corrections are performed from the lightest to the most difficult. The light layers of the broken vessel have already been corrected in previous generations, while in our generation we begin to correct the lowest, thickest, and worst layer to which we ourselves belong.

The general desire is divided into five levels (0-4) of Aviut, or “thickness,” depth of the desire. In the drawing, they are marked on the time axis according to which we perform our correction, from the lightest to the most difficult one, as said before. The principle of the “descent of the generations” stems from this: Each generation is worse than the previous one in terms of its ego. As a result, we advance from the lightest Reshimot (reminiscences) to the most difficult ones.

Today we have reached the final stage of the generation of Mashiach (Messiah): the correction of the last layers of the desire to receive. Of course, this is difficult. The world is immersed in the ego, people are unable to be considerate of one another, they distance from one another: a person from a person, a man from a woman, and children from parents. Countries, nations—everything is falling apart, disintegrating.

So it says: “The essence of prophetic success is to extend the upper Light to the dwellers below. The one who brings it lowest is the most successful.” And so we should “descend” to the masses, not only to those who lead a good life, but also people who have the worst attributes and the greatest resistance. We are trying to reach everyone and to convey our message to them, considering, of course, the circumstances in each place.

Our success depends on this. It is measured namely by how deep we can dive. Baal HaSulam writes about this in “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 63: “Thus, in our generation, although the essence of the souls is the worst, which is why they could not be selected for Kedusha thus far, they are the ones that complete the Partzuf of the world and the Partzuf of the souls with respect to the Kelim, and the work completed only through them.”[75104]From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/11/2012

Question: As I see it, people left without a job sink into their problems and this gives them no incentive to find out where the problems are coming from.

Answer: Our ego feels suffering within itself. The suffering is constantly increasing and taking different forms. Why do they push a person to ask about the meaning of life? It is because he is asking: “Why do I need to suffer?” Actually, they may bring him to the point of suicide.

What is the wisdom of Kabbalah doing? It says to a person: You have to replace this suffering with other suffering, the so-called “suffering of love.”

Indeed, when you love someone, yearn for him, but you still are not connected to him yet, or you are being rejected, turned down a little, or distance separates you and for now you can’t see him, then a big desire to come close, to connect, and to embrace appears, but it is impossible.

All of this is also suffering! But they are sweet for us; we do not want to get rid of them.

Personally, I cannot imagine such suffering anymore, but I remember them from when I was young, and they were sweet. So on one hand, you love, yearn, and anticipate that soon you will embrace your beloved one, but at the same time, you suffer because it still hasn’t happened, and this is pleasant suffering.

There is suffering that comes from the ego, and it is called the “shadow of the Sitra Achra,” meaning a bad shadow, darkness, which hides all the good in the world. And there is suffering that pushes you forward, and, on the contrary, you are excited, you are living in the expectation that it will happen soon: In front of you is the Light, the Light of love, the Light of the impending meeting. Light and darkness, this is the whole difference.

We need to quickly help the world replace their suffering, great hardships, and problems that will intensify more and more with a yearning for connection, for love, for the Light. Then, we will feel that the sufferings do not disappear. It’s because if you meet your loved one, and all the attraction you felt at the time of separation disappears, then nothing will be left for you except disappointment: You met, and after few minutes you don’t need anything else, and you can leave.

Therefore, it is necessary that this suffering, meaning this attraction, this appetite, this hunger, will stay, and at the same time, you will be able to enjoy it. Usually when you are very hungry and you start to eat, the appetite disappears and you do not enjoy the food. And what if the pleasure would not disappear?

That is, we need to keep our suffering and only transform it. Hence under no circumstances should we ask the Creator for anything except correction. We must not ask Him to take away our suffering, but only to change it so that we will feel the suffering of love instead, eagerness to go forward. Then we will live in excitement.[74574]From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 4

Question:Disturbances come in order to help us in our progress toward the goal. How is it possible to understand what the upper force is trying to tell me by sending this specific disturbance? What does it want from me by sending it in particular?

Answer: So that above this disturbance, you will not forget the Creator and yearn for Him.

Question: Is there a certain, specific recipe, or does one need to work separately with each disturbance?

Answer: Do not work with the disturbances! You need to rise immediately above it. There is no need to pay attention to the disturbance itself; the main thing is to rise above it.

Treat a disturbance that comes to you as a support, as a springboard that is bouncing you up. Try to look at it in this way and you will see that it was done in this way purposely. It seems to us as a disturbance only psychologically. Actually it is not a disturbance, but rather a means for ascending.

Question: But how to nevertheless hear what it is trying to tell me? What do I have to correct, above what do I have to rise?

Answer: You don’t know it now. But if you work above the disturbances, you will see what is being corrected in you. And from the new, already corrected qualities, you will start learning the language of the Creator.[74658]From the Vilnius Convention 3/24/12, Lesson 4

Question: Most of us have relatives and friends who are dear to us who have not yet manifested an interest in spirituality. We care about them a lot and intend to rid them of suffering; is it worth waking up their points in the hearts?

Answer: That’s true, each of us has many relatives and friends to whom we would love to explain what we are preoccupied with. Possibly, it would help them too. At least, it could brighten up their lives interesting and think differently about their troubles and problems. However, we all know that it is a very difficult task, as a rule, to explain such things to those people who do not comprehend them. Why is this so?

Our methodology applies only to those who have awakened the aspiration to the goal of creation, those with the so-called “point in the heart.” Everybody has it. Modern day Kabbalists came from the first Kabbalist: Adam. Before Adam was born, for thousands of years, numerous generations possessed a latent point in the heart. Adam was the first man in this world whose point in the heart was awakened. It goes on from then. Before, each generation had very few people whose points in the heart were not dormant.

When a person’s soul (inner desire) matures (ripens), he starts to explore “Why do I need this life? What for? Maybe I should do away with all this? Or finally to find what makes life worth living?”

Such questions arise in everybody, but to different extents. Each person (especially in childhood) asks him or herself: “Why do people live?” Later in life, everyday routine suppresses this quest and people forget about it.

Nowadays, we see that due to crises and various problems, the question of the meaning of life spreads to millions of people around the world. However, people still restrict their search by questioning: “How can I get rid of the pain?” How do I get away from pain, not how do I move ahead.

Nevertheless, at this time we see millions of people who have a point in the heart. Look how many fellow students you have around the world and how many people we don’t even know but who study together with us. They don’t have an obvious desire to contact us as of yet, that’s why our task is to treat them with a lot of thoughtfulness, to never push them too much, and to find suitable reading materials for them.

I think that spreading of our methodology together with the materials we create for the 99% of the world population will gradually lead people ahead and will help many of them (millions!) to reveal their points in the heart. Others will simply follow; they will advance mainly because they tend to escape from pain somehow.

I am sure that you should search for interesting materials and give them to your friends. If you see that words do not work, then don’t talk. Printed materials are more persuasive. Try them. Be patient! Personally, I don’t know how to address those people who do not look for answers to these questions. Why do we need to force them? You have to tell people something that they are willing to hear.[74101]From the Vilnius Convention 3/23/12, Lesson 1